1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a device for selectively controlling the oscillating transverse movement of a yarn, in particular a warp yarn of a loom with at least one sinker driven in an oscillating manner with at least one carrier for a yarn.
2. State of the Art
Devices of the above mentioned type are well known. For example, such devices are employed in the manufacture of patterned materials for selectively controlling the warp yarns of shaft machines or Jacquard machines. Each warp yarn therein is guided through the closed eye of a heddle, and is indirectly raised or lowered by means of the shafts of a shaft machine or the harness strings of a Jacquard machine. Such devices are otherwise known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,936,352, EP-B 0 421 370, EP-A 0 302 798, EP-A 0 534 523 and DE-C 40 23 512.
One disadvantage with this type of selection and movement of the individual warp yarns is the considerable electronic and mechanical expense which makes such large space demands in the shaft or Jacquard machines as to be close to or above that for a loom and, which is high in cost. The more individual threads that must be controlled, the more expensive the solution. As a further and greater disadvantage of existing technical apparatus, independent of the Jacquard or shaft technology, all warp yarns must be individually guided through the closed eye of the loom heddles. For drawing the yarns, considerable manual or mechanical expense is involved. Due to the guidance in the closed eye of the heddle, the degree of freedom in the yarn is reduced, so that the yarn is free to move only in the warp direction. This must be compensated for through expensive control and operation by direct elements, such as heddles, as well as indirect elements, such as shafts, harnesses, Jacquard plates, magnets and so forth, whereby the elements temporarily perform different movements of the yarns individually in the Jacquard machine or groupwise in the shaft machines.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,261,464 a device is described which consists of heddles with open eyes in a sinker which moves up and down. This device however has other disadvantages. The design of the openings allows no connection or disconnection of the threads during weaving, but serves solely for drawing the warp threads when the loom is at rest. Still further, only a few yarn thicknesses can be accepted by the guide element due to the design. The operation of the heddles is accompanied by a great deal of mechanical expense.